Drug cases in two east Alabama counties have been dismissed after a state forensics worker in Hoover was arrested.

She's accused of tampering with evidence and may be connected to hundreds of drug cases in the area.

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The Calhoun County District Attorney's office says three cases have already been dismissed in Calhoun and Cleburne counties and hundreds of other cases are in limbo there because of this arrest.

Authorities say Brandi Hicks was arrested on April 1 and charged with trafficking cocaine and heroin. She's also charged with theft.

Hicks remains in the Shelby County Jail.

Birmingham trial lawyer Richard Jaffe says while his dealings with the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences have always been good, a case like this is more common than you might think when you look at the nation as a whole.

In most cases, he said when evidence goes missing, the case is thrown out.

"The larger issue is that the credibility of anyone charged or associated with missing evidence is broader than those individual cases, but if that person has to testify in any other case," he said.

As for the trafficking charges, Jaffe said those could stem from simply possessing the narcotics or actually distributing them.